Extra time in exams - how schools actually decide.

[MJHLondon]

I work in learning support and am worried about how difficult parents with neurodiverse children find it to interpret the JCQ (exam board regulations). I am wondering how common this is and what help is available generally?

It shouldn't be up to parents though should it?

The school SENCO should run official tests with any flagged children and go from there?

Or am I missing something?

In theory yes - schools should identify students who may need support and investigate. In practice it can be a bit more complicated because the exam regulations (set by the Joint Council for Qualifications) require specific evidence that a student's difficulty affects their speed of working in timed tasks.

So schools usually need:

-evidence from tests of reading, continuous writing or cognitive processing speed (in the case of a learning difficulty)
-evidence from teachers about how the student works in timed conditions
-and importantly that extra time is part of a student's normal way of working in school.

That's why sometimes a diagnosis alone doesn't automatically lead to extra time, which can be confusing for parents.

Good SENDCos will normally monitor this and test students where appropriate, but sometimes it only becomes obvious once exam pressure increases in Y 9-10.

Maybe depends where you are. My daughter got extra time for all of her exams, she has ADHD. She does not have a learning difficulty and she achieves relatively highly (she's now at university). I didn't ever look at any guidelines, the support for learning teacher called me from the school. She said they think she would benefit from additional time in an exam due to her lack of focus. She also had separate accommodation within the school to complete her exams.

We are in Scotland, I don't think things are as rigid here.

I'm surprised if you work in Learning Support that you don't realise it's the schools who provide the evidence to send to the exam boards. Parents are not involved in collecting the evidence and all secondary schools will have assessment procedures to identify who might need this help and where to get the supporting evidence.

Yes, that may well be part of it. The system is different in Scotland.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, exam access arrangements are governed generally by the regulations from the JCQ, which require specific evidence that a student's difficulty affects their speed of working in timed tasks.

Schools usually have to gather evidence from tests and from teachers about how the student works in timed conditions, and the support also has to be part of the student's normal way of working in school.

In Scotland the arrangements are handled through the SQA I think and schools may have a bit more flexibility in how they apply support.

It sounds like your daughter's school recognised she would benefit and put support in place early, which is exactly what good schools try to do.

Parents aren’t involved in the evidence gathering.

one of my children got extra time.

at the school I worked at we assessed students in year 10 and both parents and teachers could ask for children to be added to the list for assessment

It is helpful if parents are vaguely aware as then they can say 'please could you assess to see if DC qualifies for extra time', but apart from that I think the ball is firmly in the school's court.
(I say this as a parent both of whose dc got extra time).

Standardised scores are only required for applications for extra time made under the learning difficulties without an EHCP criteria. They are not required for those made for other reasons using a Form 9.

CurlyKoalie - yes, you are absolutely correct schools normally gather the evidence and retain it for inspection by the exam boards.

Where parents sometimes struggle is understanding how the criteria are applied. The regulations require quite specific evidence about the impact on speed of working and also that the support reflects the student's normal way of working in school.

So while the evidence is gathered by schools, the underlying criteria can still be quite confusing for families.

Children do not need a diagnosis to qualify for support, either in the classroom, or for exams. What is necessary, as you have indicated OP, is evidence from testing in school, perhaps from outside agencies and examples of it being the child’s normal way of working.

All of those things will probably be long term. The child will have been identified as requiring additional support in whatever way and strategies put in place for support.

The school should be speaking to parents about the need (or not) for additional time, reader, scribe, rest breaks etc al, but parents will not be applying for them. As you work in Learning Support, you should be familiar with any pupil who requires support and evidence of need and the SENCo will coordinate written evidence and the exams officer and SENCo will apply for whatever adjustments are deemed appropriate.

I don’t see why parents need to be worried about the JCQ regulations. They need to have conversations with the school if they are. It would be surprising if most pupils didn’t have long term support in school, to accommodate their need, whether learning differences, ND or both.

Yes, there are essentially two different routes. The medical route for medical conditions such as ADHD and a learning difficulty route. The forms are different depending upon the most significant need. (there can be co-morbidity). A form 8 is used for a learning difficulty as primary need and a form 9 for a medical diagnosis.

The route is determined by primary need. For example, some arrangements rely more heavily on standardised scores (often when the application is based on a specific learning difficulty), whereas others rely more on evidence from teachers about the student's normal way of working and the impact of their difficulty in timed tasks.

That's perhaps one reason why parents find the system confusing - the evidence requirements can look slightly different depending upon the route.

@CurlyKoaliethat’s not entirely true. My DD was diagnosed with MS shortly before her A levels, with the primary symptom at the time numbness on her right side, affecting her ability to use her hand and write. With an Art and two essay based A levels her school scrambled to get the necessary tests done but it also required a letter from her consultant detailing the diagnosis. Fortunately for my DD he specifically mentioned her ability to write was affected. She got extra time and rest breaks and was able to complete (and get A stars) her exams, but the letter confirmed the issue. The school was very proactive, in that my DD missed a week initially and when we told them why they jumped right on it to get everything in place.
OP I didn’t have to interpret the regulations, the school knew what was required and did it.

I don’t see why parents need to be worried about the JCQ regulations.

Not worried, but I do think they need to be aware of what JCQ regulations say and not necessarily rely on the school’s word. For example, sometimes some schools incorrectly tell parents their (say for example autistic) DC isn’t eligible for extra time because they do not have two standardised scores of 84 or below. When DC with ASD do not require standardised scores and they can be considered under the other route rather than the learning difficulties without an EHCP route.

@ExistingonCoffee Yes, that's right - there are essentially two different routes.

When extra time is applied for on the basis of a specific learning difficulty schools need two standardised scores derived from two different areas affecting speed of working one at 84 or below and at least one other below 89.

However, for some medical conditions or other needs (for example ADHD, ASD or physical difficulties), the application may rely more on evidence of how the student works in timed tasks and confirmation that the support is their normal way of working.

That's why the evidence requirements can look slightly different depending on the primary need.

As others have said, it shouldn't be for the parents to have to understand. Whether there is a diagnosis or not, if there is a reason to believe a child may need access arrangements put in place, the senco should be doing an assessment in relation to that. Unfortunately that doesn't always happen, unless parents do know the system and push for an assessment to take place.

Despite knowing of a dyslexia diagnosis, DC having been receiving extra time in numerous tests etc from year 7, no assessment was made as to whether they were entitled to adjustments in exams until I pushed for one to be done. One of the members of staff had also been asking about extra time being allowed for NEAs but got no answer either.

This isn't meant to be a comment bashing all those that act as senco. It isn't an easy job, and in a lot of schools there is probably too much workload for the amount of time available, However, I had allowed plenty of time before emailing again. The form tutor also had to email twice before I got a response. The teachers themselves were no issue, but they were reliant on the senco doing their part.

In Scotland here, and mine have all been assessed by OT and given extra time for formal exams due to various reasons. My 10yo currently going through dyslexia screening will be awarded extra time in class as well as exams.

Yes — but Scotland handles it quite differently from England (JCQ).

In England, the JCQ system requires “Normal Way of Working” (NWoW) as formal evidence that the access arrangement (e.g., 25% extra time) is routinely used in class and tests.

In Scotland, the system is run by the about:blank Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), and the concept is similar but not identical.

1. The Scottish Equivalent: “Demonstrated Need”

SQA does not use the exact phrase “Normal Way of Working.”

Instead, schools must show that the support reflects the candidate’s demonstrated need in learning and teaching.

This means the school must evidence that:

• The arrangement is regularly used in class
• It supports the learner’s usual way of working
• It is not introduced just for the exam

So in practice, SQA expects something very close to NWoW — they just describe it differently.

2. Evidence Schools Typically Use

Scottish schools usually justify extra time through:

• Classroom practice
• Internal assessments / prelim exams
• Support plans (e.g., IEP or support plan)
• Teacher evidence of processing or working difficulties

The decision is made within the school, not through a national Form 8 process.

@Talkingfrog I’m actually dealing with a PE NEA case at the moment. (OCR exam board). The timings for the task are advisory. The students should get as much time as required. There are other relevant adjustments though- recording the response rather than live. Cue cards to structure the verbal response etc. There is a high working memory demand for these kinds of tasks.

Thanks for all the interesting perspectives. It’s clear that experiences can vary quite a lot between schools and across the UK systems.

One thing that often causes confusion for parents in England is that exam access arrangements aren’t usually based on a diagnosis alone. Schools normally have to evidence that a difficulty affects the student’s speed of working in timed tasks, and that any support (such as extra time) is already the student’s normal way of working in lessons and tests.

That’s why conversations about arrangements often start once students begin doing more timed assessments during GCSE courses.

Happy to try to clarify anything if it’s useful.

I'm a bit confused what you are trying to convey by posting OP. In our school this is all coordinated by the exams officer. Parents might rock up with eg a dyslexia diagnosis but it is very quickly explained to them that that is not an automatic ticket to extra time and school needs to build the evidence itself.

Yes — that’s how it should work in most schools. The exams officer and SENCo normally coordinate the evidence and the application.

Where some parents become interested in the regulations is when experiences differ between schools, or when a student is struggling to complete timed work but the reasons aren’t yet clear.

In those situations parents sometimes try to understand how the system works so they know what kinds of evidence schools usually look for.

But you’re right that the process itself is coordinated by the school rather than parents applying directly.

It’s a fair question though Fair question. My intention wasn’t to suggest parents should be applying for arrangements themselves.
In most schools the SENCo and exams officer coordinate the process, as you say.
What I’ve noticed though is that many parents find the JCQ regulations quite difficult to interpret from the outside, particularly around things like diagnosis, evidence and “normal way of working”. Sometimes that leads to misunderstandings or anxiety about how decisions are made.
I was mainly interested in hearing how common that experience is and whether parents generally feel they understand the process or not.

DD was assessed and given extra time at two different schools. At no time did we as parents have anything to do with the process and I have never read the guidance, even though I was a teacher. I do think the “normal way of working” is too vague, particularly when problems are discovered quite late in year 10/early year 11.

Again I feel you're trying to make a point OP that I am not grasping. Is this a complaint about difficult parents?

My experience is that not many parents get as far as engaging with JCQ guidelines or rules at all. We only did for special consideration, which as you know is separate. Maybe we were lucky in that both schools gave the right amount of info to us and started building the evidence in good time. I had to send a LOT of emails to get one DC's exam access arrangements transferred to sixth form college, but I think that was just an admin issue and would not have been helped by referencing JCQ guidelines.

My DS is in Year 10, with an ASD diagnosis (only diagnosed at the end of Year 6). He is for want of a better word, very high functioning and has up until now not required any adaptations in school as over the years he has developed strategies to cope. He is now obviously sitting lots of tests and mini exams. He says he knows the answers but the time it takes him to process what the questions are asking and then do them means he is often completely running out of time and scoring very badly. For context, he is fairly able and is in a high set. I spoke to our school SENCO and she said that because he hasn’t need any adaptations so far that she doubts he will fit the criteria for extra time. Just feel gutted for him tbh. He could probably get 8’s and 9’s as the questions he answers are correct but he misses a huge chunk out as he runs out of time so will obviously get lower grades.